Trumpeter 01577

Picked up a photo etch bending tool (Master Tools).

The underside of the engine lids have PE grills that will never be seen. Still nice though..

Fit is good overall.
Some issues with gaps with the top plate at the front & rear, as well as the front fenders and front glacis. Gaps thin enough to fix with CA. Glacis plate should be fitted with all the hull plates in place. Following instructions left me with a gap and I had to r&r the glacis to correct.

PE intake grills that nobody will see.. but cool to know they're there.

R Model tracks (35083). Adds very nice visual and physical weight to the model.
Track links required minimal cleanup.
Included metal wire appeared to be steel rather than the copper or brass like in Friulmodels. The resulting track pins are much stiffer. Using wire cutters left visible angles on them as seen in the photo. But easy enough to clean up with a file or dremel tool.

Tracks just treated with AK Burnishing fluid..

Used Tamiya XF-63 German Grey for dunkelgrau.

1:1 black/burnt umber oil pinwash started..

The turret decals were a challenge. The three digits were a single decal and I cut the carrier film as best I could (first attempt). In retrospect, getting a number template/mask would have been better.

Tracks treated with AK Burnishing Fluid. Weathered with AK Track Wash.